Beyond Ayre Pass and Rowland

No-one mentioned Halcro and Boulder. I am not familiar with them. Where do they stand?

I've heard some Boulder amps & preamps. the one that i remember - in the preamp there was optical coupling & the power amp was some 2' deep (maybe even deeper) driving Avalon Acoustics speakers. Heard these in a dealer's showroom. Not impressed with the sonics.....

I see. I remember reading similar comments about Boulder.

A number of years ago I read a review in Stereophile or The Absolute Sound of the Ypsilon preamp. The reviewer was almost shocked by what he called an incredible sound above anything else he'd heard before. Don't remember what power amp and speakers he used.
Oh yeah, no mentioning of MBL, Goldmund and CH.. amps either. Again, never heard any of them.

Inna, in the "real" world, this is what I'm looking into. While I want the best "tube" pre amp I can possibly swing, I know that a really good solid state amp will give you a lot of the tube thing, when you have a killer tube pre amp.

   
This Vincent Audio SP 331 Hybrid Power Amplifier; 150 watts at 8 0hms, and 300 watts at 4 ohms. Since I'm running my speakers at 4 ohms now, I would be able to use that.


         
          http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=VISP331



I think they would let you audition this amp, with the usual provisions.



Enjoy the music.